For Teachers and Parents/Guardians: Work Experience

You can find out about the range of jobs in science, technology, engineering and maths using the Next Step Job Profiles to get some ideas. Choose a category and then explore the profiles. Details about entry requirements and skills and knowledge associated are also included. The profile will give you ideas about where people are employed and you can think about the organisations you could approach (e.g. for a physicist are employed in many places including hospitals). This first step can take a while and it is useful if the young person seeking the placement is involved in the initial fact-finding to ensure they are clear about the type of placement.Think about whether you have any contacts with employers through your own friends, children's friends' parents, governors, or other people you have met; ask if they can help set up a placement.

Ensure that those pupils from more disadvantaged backgrounds who may have limited social networks are still able to access a wide range of work experience. Pupils from specific backgrounds e.g. those in care, travellers, young carers, may need extra help to secure placements.

Check if the school has any existing contacts at the company you are interested in. This could be through a subject teacher (e.g. science) or through someone with responsibility for work related learning (e.g. careers co-ordinator/work-related learning co-ordinator).

Ask the local education business partnership or the Careers Team in school or college who may have a named contact in local companies. The Industrial Trust may be able to assist with companies and you can also contact STEM Learning, who link STEM Ambassadors to schools. If none of the above produces any contact names you can write to, or phone, the companies direct. Ask for the person who deals with work experience or schools links.

If that does not work, you could ask for someone in Human Resources or in the Schools Liaison Team.

Make sure you are prepared so that you know what sort of experience you are seeking and the dates etc. It is better if the young person rings/writes themselves as that is part of the learning process around work experience.

It is possible for under 16's to undertake work experience placements in STEM areas so don't give up at the first hurdle if you come across someone who does not know how to help you.

However, you may find that some roles within the STEM are just not possible. The next best thing might be to undertake another role to get a flavour of the environment and there maybe the opportunity to shadow people for odd days too. For example, unqualified young people could not do some medical jobs but a placement in a hospital office environment with visits to labs and other technical areas with staff members would be helpful.

Some students may prefer a more practical approach to learning or would like a mixture of both academic and vocational subjects. Vocational routes into STEM careers might be more appropriate for some young people and may help widen choice. Information on the new diplomas may be a starting point.

For general information for families on how to support young people, please see the 'Explore the Possibilities - Top Ten Tips' postcard in the Resources section.